This is a conference grant application requesting support for the fourth Gordon Research Conference on Signal Transduction By Engineered Extracellular Matrices. This meeting will be held July 2-7, 2006 at Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut. The Chair will be Dr. Michael Sheetz and the Vice-Chair will be Dr. Molly Shoichet. The conference will focus on the converging roles of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and growth factors for the repair and replacement of tissue lost or damaged due to disease or injury. Systems bioengineering approaches to analyzing and manipulating these systems will be emphasized in this meeting, and this represents a major new component of the meeting, as compared to the previous two conferences in this series. In these contexts, there will be discussion of the state of the art, unpublished research in signal transduction, the mechanisms by which growth factors and the ECM regulate cell fate, and their application to tissue regeneration and engineering. The program will include oral sessions (each with three to four speakers and a discussion leader), as well as poster sessions (most participants will be expected to present a poster). The meeting will be small by conventional standards (approximately 130 participants), but participants will be selected to insure attendance by a diverse group of junior and senior investigators representing academic and government institutions, as well as small and large biotechnology companies. Students and postdoctoral fellows will be encouraged to attend, and at least one speaker in each session will be a junior investigator. In this way the meeting will provide a platform for the development of long term interdisciplinary interactions, and expose students and young professionals to the latest ideas and opportunities at the confluence of signal transduction, molecular and cellular biology, biomaterials and tissue engineering. A special effort will be made to use the financial support requested to facilitate the attendance and participation of women and minorities in this meeting. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]